Define the concept of culture.How is culture related with society?Discuss.500 words
Answers
When human begins live together, as a society, in a particular area, they form several key habits and norms by which they live their life. They share these norms with one another and collectively, this is called a culture.
This can include, the language they speak, the clothes they wear, the religion they follow, the food they eat and many other things.
Hence, a distinct culture exists in every society around the world.
Let's take an example of a people living in the desert. These people live in a particular geographic area where food and water is limited. There is a lot of heat with hardly any seasons or even rain for that matter.
They live mostly far away from other people.
When living in such conditions for say, 50 years, they gradually develop their own particular diet. It can be dates, goats, milk but just limited things which they can find in a desert.
So they develop a distinct diet and a distinct clothing which makes them a big cooler in the heat. They also start to construct buildings with materials and designs which help them to get shade and escape the heat.
Their life revolves around scare water and they plan their day accordingly.
How such a society has developed a distinct culture of it's own, is it better than anyone else? no, can they avoid it? no, it's going to happen.
Now let's compare this society with a people living in Northern Canada, e.g. the Eskimos.
Now these people living 1000s of miles away from the desert people so naturally they are going to have a distinctive language, that's a natural given, but the world and the geography they live in is especially what makes their culture so unique to a desert culture.
They live in a place with hardly any season and very cold windy and icy conditions. Their clothes are made of fur to keep themselves very warm and they eat foods which are high in fat, e.g. oily fish, blubber, seals, whales etc.
They also are limited to such foods since farming is very very difficult in these conditions.
Hence, these people also develop a distinct culture, daily routines etc which revolve around keeping warm, building homes which are warm and generally a place where night and day can last for 6 months each.
Imagine how different these both people are, their culture completely unique and in no part due to their own cause.
Let’s compare this to the plains of Punjab in Pakistan, a land which has plenty of water, loads of farming land and blessed with 4 seasons. Their lifestyle, daily routines and even the whole year is planned around the seasons, foods etc.
Their way of life if not better, might be a bit more comfortable than the extreme cold or heat discussed previously, but in no way can we can call it more superior, since each culture is powerful in it’s own way and has it’s own strengthens and weaknesses which no one has the right to judge.